The race to build affordable cars

The race to build affordable cars

I'm from a family of six. At one point, my parents had 5 kids living at home going to college. Money was tight and everyone needed to drive a car to work and school (we lived in the sticks). My dad bought a fleet of Chevy Sprints and kept us all in wheels. When one broke he cycled in a spare. There was always a spare motor getting overhauled on the garage floor. The beauty of the cars was how easy they were to repair. There wasn't much to go wrong and when it did--parts were cheap.

Business Week recently ran an article about the race to build affordable cars. The article talks about the new thing in cars are sturdy and inexpensive and not made in the US. There is a growing market for something more than a motorcycle yet less than today's compact cars. The idea isn't a new idea--the Yugo was probably ahead of its time while suffering from poor quality. I would be surprised if in the auto industries future less doesn't equal more. The article discusses how in the US the low cost cars business is very small but there are huge growth opportunities in India, China, and emerging economic developing countries.

Access is similar to the affordable car race--there isn't a more affordable platform for building data-centric business applications. One of the key characteristics of Access applications is that they are affordable, easy to maintain, and easy to change. The organic, affordable nature of Access applications speaks to the heart of why the platform is so popular.